UApresents appears to be heading toward another money-losing season that could push its $807,000 deficit closer to $1 million.
On Thursday, the Arizona Board of Regents is expected to sign off on an $83,856 lawsuit settlement against the University of Arizona arts presenter, brought by the producers of the Broadway show "Little Shop of Horrors." In December, UApresents canceled the production's eight-show January run after selling 3,700 of 20,000 available tickets.
UApresents also is expected to report that it lost money on the overall season. Saundra Taylor, the outgoing UA senior vice president of Campus Life who oversees UApresents, said the final numbers will show a loss.
"We weren't able to draw down on the deficit," said Taylor, who is retiring June 30, at the end of the fiscal year. "What we're trying to do is put it in the black rather than in the red. But that's sort of where we are."
UApresents Executive Director Natalie Bohnet on Monday said the numbers were still being crunched, and she refused to speculate on gains or losses. She said her agency is still tabulating donations that could offset losses from ticket sales.
"The year-end is not until June 30. We'll have a projection on Thursday," she said, when pressed. "I need to report to the regents first and foremost. That's my first responsibility."
The "Little Shop" lawsuit settlement, reached in March, is roughly half of the $167,398 that the Little Shop of Horrors Touring Company had sought. Taylor and others said the settlement is significantly less than the amount UApresents estimated it would have lost had the show been staged. Taylor put that amount in the neighborhood of $200,000.
The lawsuit was filed in New York, which would have made the cost of fighting it far more than the cost of settling, Taylor added.
"It's just sort of part of doing the business that we do. We'll just have to suck this up," she said.
The Board of Regents will likely agree to the settlement when it meets in Flagstaff on Thursday, said Regent Fred Boice of Tucson, who in the past has been an ardent watchdog over the agency's spiraling deficit.
"I have looked at this thing (deficit) when it was $200,000 plus, $400,000 plus, $700,000 plus. We've got to do something to stem the tide," he said. "Does that mean we shut it down? I'm not prepared to say that. But we can't afford to continue operating on a $1 million deficit."
Bohnet said she is confident the Board of Regents will continue supporting UApresents as it tries to stop the financial bleeding.
"I think there's a lot of support for this program," Bohnet said. "I think everybody realizes the university is a major university, and we need to have a presenting program. And they know I'm implementing strategies to make sure that we have a financially successful organization."
Regent Ernest Calderón of Phoenix said he has "serious concerns about UApresents."
"It sounds to me like we're in the wrong business there," Calderón said in a phone interview from Phoenix. "In a perfect world we would love to have those types of entities provide arts and entertainment, but we have to make the books balance.
"Clearly we have to do something. When you're approaching a million (dollar deficit), you have to have some accountability."
● The Arizona Board of Regents will meet at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Northern Arizona University's University Union in Flagstaff.
